Fresno, CA Animal Ordinances: Dog Leash Laws (2026)

The leash rule sits in Chapter 10, Article 3 of the Fresno Municipal Code, the same article that runs the city pound. Section 10-301(b) defines 'at large' as any animal loose on a public street, alley, other public place, or an unenclosed lot, unless it is confined by a leash strong enough to hold it or riding inside a car; Section 10-308(a) then makes letting any animal besides a cat reach that state unlawful citywide. A first violation of Section 10-308 is only an infraction under Section 10-309, but Section 10-308(b) lets the poundmaster ask a Hearing Officer for a finding of 'habitually at large' if the same animal is caught loose twice more within twelve months of a warning or citation.

Under Section 10-308(c) a Hearing Officer who makes that finding can order the animal sterilized, confined in an approved enclosure or leash, forfeited to a new owner, forfeited to the poundmaster for adoption or humane destruction, or removed from the city outright. Section 10-308(d) frames the whole prohibition around the public-safety and overpopulation risk of at-large animals. Section 10-310 carves out an exception: the poundmaster cannot seize or cite a dog that has never left, or that has strayed from and returned to, the private property of its own owner while it is there, though a citation can still be issued in the return case, and impoundment is allowed with posted notice if no one is home.